Matrix: Uploaded Unconsciousness
by Neil Wells
Summary: chapter 6 now up! Sliver, a program writer, finds a way to influance the matrix before getting unplugged (rated for language and minor violance)
1. Bootup

Matrix: Uploaded Unconsciousness  
Neil Wells  
The Matrix series, universe, and it's characters are all © The Wachowsky Brothers and warner bros.  
  


This is when I'm going to work. As usual, my laptop sitting on my. Well. On my lap. Most of the usual people are here.  
Tom. He works at a convenience store. He says he works there for the thrill.  
Susan. She's a teacher for a high school, but they don't pay her enough for her to purchase a car. Her rent is too high and her husband cheats on her. She's in denial.  
Julian. Student.  
Jillian. His twin sister.  
And all the others, all the office workers in their suits, the fast food crews, the school kids.  
And me.  
I must be the only program writer I know that prefers public transportation.  
This morning I'm testing my company's new product for the laptops. Mobil Internet. This way, you can be anywhere on the earth and be able to connect to the net via satellites and whatnot.  
I'm testing it for any bugs or anything while chatting with my friends and co-workers using a chatting program I wrote.  
Yojimbo: So dude, you're on the bus and connected to the net?  
Sliver: That's correct  
Yojimbo: How do you pull that off?  
Sliver: A program I got from my company. Allows for roaming internet.  
Yojimbo: Is it really from your company?  
Sliver: ...Yes, of course it is. Where else would I have gotten it.  
Yojimbo: Just asking. Well hey, see ya around. Have fun at work.  
Sliver: Yeah right. You too.  
I look up from my computer screen, and I see it's my stop. I pull the cord, get off, go into the building, stand behind the counter, sell the customer standing there cigarettes and a lottery ticket, and put the money in the cash register.  
I'm sure you expected an office building of some kind. A cubicle. Me trying to look like I'm working. But no. I'm just a store clerk. I sell things to people while I sit behind the counter, downloading pirated hacker programs, write programs for other hackers, and play online multi player role playing games.  
Sitting at my laptop, my keyboard clicks while I type more programing code, I hear a little bell ring signaling somebody just entered the store. When I look up from my screen I see a thin pale man standing before me, wearing mostly black. I'd tell you how his eyes looked, but they were shielded by circular framed dark sun glasses.  
You're the hacker called Sliver right? he says to me, just out of the blue as if he's known me forever.  
Taken aback slightly, I think it over. then I decide to not give any hint to my being a wanted hacker. Do you want to purchase some smokes sir?  
I need you to take something from me. It's a program. he slaps a disk on the counter and pins it there with his forefinger. There's somebody after me for this, you need to keep it safe. You need to set yourself free.  
  
He slides the disk across the table.  
Rewrite the matrix. Let yourself out of imprisonment. Free your mind.  
The little bell rings, and we both look at the door. Standing there is a man in a suit with a cord to his ear, and absolutely no emotion behind his rectangular sunglasses. Even behind the sunglasses, I see the first man, the one talking all that... stuff... you can see fear in his face as he turns to run out the back.  
The business suit pulls out a desert eagle and unloads some rounds at his prey, who just happens to be behind me. In slow motion, I see those bullets fly, and right before they strike my chest. Before they kill me.  
I wake up.  
Woah dude. How often have you had this dream? She sits across from me, drinking coffee. Who she is, this coffee drinker, is my best friend. She is Kendra Fray.  
Every night since about a year ago. I eat my bagel, covered in cream cheese.  
Thats kind of scary. Do you think it means anything?  
I don't think so. But... Bite. Chew. Chew. And around chewed up mush of bagel, I say, it just seems real. That's what makes it so scary.  
She nods, sipping more coffee, watching me eat my bagel watching her drink her coffee.  
Kendra and I have been friends for a couple years now, and I kind of feel like she's my sister. She's always there for me, and I, her. Kendra is a fellow hacker, who runs the net going by the alias of Boon.' Her hair is the kind of red you'd see in a ripe tomato. Her eyes, the green of mint.  
Suddenly she jumps, as if something bit her rear, and she smacks her fingertip on the table.  
Oh hey, I just remembered. Me and Jack are going to a movie later. You wanna come?  
I don't know. I say before stuffing the last bit of bagel in my mouth. I won't have a date or anything, and I do need to work on that white rabbit program. Jace wanted that asap.  
Oh come on. Why not take a break from all that work? Come have a little field trip with us.  
After giving it a quick five second think through, I give my answer.  
Alright. Why not.  
That's the spirit sport. she stands and ruffles my hair with her hand. I gotta go to work, but I'll see you around seven-ish?  
I'll be there.


	2. Desktop Wallpaper

I'm sitting outside this movie theater, watching the sunset. The sky is filled with amazing hues of pinks and oranges. As if a giant fire were lit in the clouds. There are strangely, a very few amount of people here right now, making me feel like the bench I'm sitting on is some desolate isle.  
My watch reads 6:53. While I'm reading the time, a droplet of water crash lands on the face of my watch and I look up. I feel a wet spot smack into the tip of my nose which I wipe off.  
Looking at the ground I see more and more rapid rain fall, so i decide to move to a more dry spot underneath the marquee.  
6:56. The show starts in fourteen minutes, and still no Kendra. I hope she's okay.  
6:58. And now its beginning to poor. Hope they weren't planning on walking. There's a sharp crack and a rumble as a lightning bolt strikes the earth nearby.  
When it's 7:01 she finally walks up, shivering and alone. Soaked. Her mascara bleeding down her face in black tears. I can't tell from her shivering and her being drenched, but I think she's crying.  
With no warning at all, she dives into my arms and hugs me, and I a muffled sob come from her. My arms wrap around her as I hold her.  
What happened Kendra? Are you okay?  
Through tears she manages to tell me that Jack broke up with her for some government chick.  
He told me she was more beautiful then me and that she was more fun and richer. That prick even said she was better in bed.  
And I hug her tight again, wishing I could do something to make her feel better.  
Let's just go see this movie, you and me. Like we originally planned it. I hold her face in my hands and smile as I look into her minty green eyes bleeding a black sap. I'll pay for you and get you any candy or anything you want.  
I just want to see this movie and forget all about jerk-off Jack.  
We walk into the theater and it's almost as desolate as outside. Only the people working. My arm around Kendra, I hand our tickets over and they tear them, telling us it's showing in theater three.  
We go in to sit down, and there's yet again nobody around.  
Find where you want to sit, and I'll be right back okay?  
She nods and I leave her alone to get us some drinks and some napkins. Then I go back into the theater and see her holding her head in her hands, shaking as I can hear her crying some more.  
Hey um. I got you a drink. And I hand her the cup.  
She takes a little sip. You got my favorite.  
Yeah. I was hoping that it would cheer you up a bit. Here's a napkin too, if you need to blow your nose.  
And she does, blowing her nose into the paper, rolling it into a ball, and heaving it into the darkness. Then she looks at me.  
I look ugly don't I? she says to me, black tears still on her face, her hair wet and clinging to her skin, the whites of her eyes red.  
Far from it Kendra. You look as beautiful as always. I take another napkin and wipe the black from her face, revealing soft white skin beneath. The previews begin to play and I comb my fingers through her hair, taking off my necklace to tie her hair behind her head in a tail. Our eyes connect, and she flashes me a quick smile, which i give back.  
You're always so nice to me Kyle. She lays her head on my shoulder and watches the screen. Why is that?  
I put my arm around her, and hug her close to me.  
Because you're my friend. And I love you.  
I love you too Kyle.  
Then the movie starts, and for the rest of the night, she doesn't cry anymore.


	3. Disk Drive Open

The morning sun's bright rays pierce my dream, shaking me back into the real world. I can feel some weight on my chest, and I open my eyes to see Kendra's red hair all over my bare chest, her beautiful face asleep. Smiling from her own dreams.  
Guess that wasn't a dream.  
I hold her shoulder in my hand and bring her closely to me, giving the top of her head a soft kiss. She wakes up and presses the side of her face into me, grunting while doing so.  
Morning sleeping beauty. Dream well?  
She nods sleepily, a big smile on her face.  
I scoot out of the bed and put on a shirt, yawning wide.  
Look in the right front pocket of my jacket. Kendra says to me, her head laying on the pillow, her green eyes watching me.  
I fish around in her pocket, and what I pull out is a little metal bell on a necklace. I give it a little shake and it makes a tiny metallic jingle.  
I made it for Jack, but I want you to have it now. She smiles.  
I smile back.  
Thanks Kendra, that's really sweet of you. I put on the necklace then give the bell a little flick with my finger, ringing it again.  
I turn the TV on to Saturday morning cartoons then go into the kitchen to make some coffee, the sounds of little birds hitting cats over the head with cast iron frying pans coming from my room.  
I walk into my bedroom with two cups of coffee, and Kendra exits the bathroom, clothed in a black leather jacket, a green shirt underneath that, and black pants and black boots.  
I've got to go off to work Kyle, thank you for everything last night. She takes a cup from me and sips it's content. Good coffee. Do you want me to come here after work, or no?  
That would be lovely. I say, smiling wide.  
Okay then. Gimme a kiss.  
I give her a loving peck on her extended cheek.  
Have a good day Kendra.  
Bye Kyle. She puts on her rectangle framed glasses and walks down the side walk toward her car.  
I stand on my porch and watch her drive off, waving to her. When I turn around, the mail man speaks from behind him and I spin to face him.  
What was that sir? I ask.  
Are you Kyle Burdsten?  
Yeah that's me.  
Here's a package for you.  
Thank you.  
And I sign for it. Then go inside with it, and open it to reveal a CD with the words Unreality Code' written on it in big black letters. The note accompanying the CD reads:  
Hello Mr. Burdsten. Play this on your stereo. Please contemplate. Fortune.  
I put the disk in my stereo and go to shower. While I'm shampooing my hair, I hear somebody speaking saying:  
This isn't the real world. This is a computer simulation. Like a big game that we're all connected to. We don't know it. It's imprisonment for us all and we don't know. This world is called the matrix and it's a prison for everybody's mind. Just like a computer program, you can alter and bend the code, which makes up everything from the laws of physics to your appearance to your body to your strength and dexterity. Once you see the code, you can alter it. Bend everything, break something.  
As I'm getting dressed, there's a knock at my door. When I open it there's the guy from my dream standing there, the one in the business suit who shot me.  
Mr. Burdsten. We need you to come with us.


	4. Peer to Peer Sharing

Where I'm at is in the back of some black town car. The windows are tinted to near black and with me are three men in business suits. One is in the front driving, and two others sitting on either side of me in the back.  
We have reason to believe that you're close to a criminal, the one sitting to my right says, and this individual's friends will try to contact you sometime soon. We'd like you to help us bring these people in and charge them for their crimes against our fine country.  
I'm not a very patriotic person, but thanks anyway.  
We're giving you a choice here Mr. Burdsten. Either you help us locate these individuals, or we imprison you for the rest of your life.  
Excuse me? Is this a threat? This is me getting angry. What exactly do you think you have on me?  
The one talking to me pulls out a fat file from a briefcase and tosses it into my lap.  
You're the hacker Sliver. As Sliver, you have done computer program piracy, music piracy, and film piracy. Not to mention you've broken every other computer law that we have.  
You are threatening me. I chuckle a bit, mostly out of disbelief.  
If you help us, we'll delete every record we have on your hacker life, let you get a head start into a better life. I believe that you would rather not sit inside a cold cell for the rest of your life.  
Aren't I supposed to get one free phone call or something like that? I want to make my phone call.  
This is your last chance Mr. Burdsten. Left or right. Good or bad.  
Fuck you uptight fascist. Give me my fucking phone call.  
He emits a low growl as he takes out a little silver cigarette case and opening it.  
You don't get a phone call Mr. Burdsten. I gave you the choice to help us under your own will, but now, you're going to help us find fortune the hard way. He says, while one of his hands presses on my chest, holding me down.  
His friends take cues and grab onto my arms and legs. They're all unimaginably strong. They're holding my arms with such strength, I can't even struggle. The one pressing on my chest, the one that had been talking, takes out a small green pill from the case and holds it in his palm.  
Before my eyes, I see it start to turn clear and inside of it, inside the now translucent pill, a little machine that has two red eyes. It breaks through the pill and the business man holds his hand near my face. The machine whips out a single tendril and inserts it inside my nose. I can feel it wreathing inside my skull and latching onto my brain, sending electrical pulses into my brain, telling me it doesn't hurt and it's a dream.  
It's a dream.  
It's telling me it's a dreams and I need to wake up.  
I'm dreaming and I...


	5. System Crash

... Wake up in my bed, covered in a cold sweat. I throw the blankets to the floor and check my body, check my nasal cavity to see if it was all real.  
When I find nothing I start to calm down, my heart regulating to a constant beat. After a few moments of waiting to feel better, I walk into the kitchen and get myself some water.  
My computer switches on and sitting down before it. That dream seemed a little too real for comfort, and this audio CD is something I'd like to find more about.  
I find a chat room entitled World not real and I go in, expecting to find a bunch of bored teens role playing or something.  
Static: Can't sleep?  
Sliver: How did you know about that?  
Static: Like them, we're always watching you  
Sliver: I had the scariest dream just now  
Static: Right now is a dream. your entire life has been a dream.  
Sliver: What are you talking about  
Static: What's real is a dream. what's a dream is the reality. Soon, you will wake.  
What the hell? I say to myself  
Static: You think I'm crazy.  
No I don't.  
Static: Don't lie to me. Live the dream one day longer. Ring ring Sliver.  
The ringing of the doorbell causes me to jump in my seat and I look behind me at the door.  
Kyle are you there? It's Kendra.  
Yeah. Hang on. I stand up and look at my computer screen. There's a green error screen on it. I hit the power switch and it goes blank.  
When I open my door, there she is in the same suit she went to work in.  
You gonna invite me in or what? It's freezing out here.  
Yeah. Sorry. Something just happened and... never mind. How was work? I refill my cup with water and poor Kendra a cup of her own.  
It was work. I missed you. Thanks. She drinks from her cup. I didn't realize how thirsty I was.  
I missed you too.  
Are you sure you're okay? You look like maybe you just saw the living dead or something.  
My uh... On my computer there was some guy talking a bunch of crazy stuff.  
What kind of crazy stuff?  
Something like you're living a dream' and this isn't the real world.' He didn't make a whole lot of sense.  
Makes sense to me. She sets her cup on the table and sits down across from me. There's a few things I need to tell you, and please don't get scared.  
I'll try not to. The way I say this, it sound like a question.  
This isn't the real world. All of this, the water, the cups that hold it, everything is a simulation. The Matrix it's called. Think of it as one of those massive online RPG games, where everybody jacks into one giant world and you all have a different character. It's kinda like that.  
Okay. Now my best friend and lover is crazy. Am I the only sane one in this world? Or am I the crazy one?  
Believe me or not, but now that you know some of the truth, you're in a lot of danger.  
The phone rings.  
Don't tell them I'm here. Tell them nothing about me.  
Hello Sliver. You and your lady friend have about ten seconds to get the hell out of that house. Run now. And he hangs up.  
I think we should go. I say, grabbing Kendra's arm and running towards the back of the house.  
As I'm trying to open the window, I can hear three sharp knocks on the door.  
Mr. Burdsten. Open this door. It's the police.  
Kendra mutters something that sounds like Oh shit, they're here.'  
Stand aside and let me open it. She says, and pushes me out of the way. With almost not effort, she practically rips the window from the wall and jumps to the ground. Jump Kyle.  
How did you...  
The door is broken down with a crash of splinters.  
Stop Mr. Burdsten, you're under arrest. Among all the men in flak jackets, I see those business men.  
I leap out the window and see Kendra running a couple yards ahead, and I follow her, looking behind to see the business men following out the window.  
I finally manage to catch up to Kendra, and I ask her, what the hell is going on.  
You'll find out soon, I'm sure. Just don't let them get you. By the way, call me Boon.  
As I run I'm huffing, trying to breath and keep up to Kendra, I mean, Boon, and puffing I ask her, who are they?  
They're called agents. I'll tell you more when we're safer. Just run.  
A few seconds later, we attempt to run across a busy main street. Traffic rushes past us, little spray of rain wetting us, giving us a mist shower.  
Boon doesn't stop running, but something about the headlights and my wanting to live causes me to stop running and just stand in the street. Frozen by fear I think, I just stare at an on coming truck, barreling towards me at high speeds.  
Reactionary to protect myself, I throw my arms up in front of my face. And within seconds of me doing this, and the truck hitting me, I lose my hearing. No sounds. No audible anything.  
In this second of deafness, something in my brain clicks, and for a split second, it all becomes clear. The matrix is a computer system. As such, there's many things you should be able to do.  
And like a program writer, I see this code, I see the code flowing through everything. Green and flowing like a heavy rain.  
Then the sound comes back into my brain, shaking me back into the matrix, the truck thundering towards me. Using the code, I reinforce my energy into a barrier, or sort of brick wall.  
And then it happens. The truck hits me. Hard. At least 65 miles per hour. I should have flown. Far. Or just got squashed under the truck. But neither happened. Like slow motion, I feel the metal frame of the truck's front end crumple and bend around me.  
I lower my arms, and see shards of glass and bolts and various other parts fly slowly past my head.  
As swiftly as it slowed, the time picks back up and the truck lurches, and stops moving.  
When I look over to see the agents, I see this big black Bronco slam into them, flinging their bodies a couple yards. The bronco stops and the rear door opens.  
Sliver, get in here! Somebody from within the vehicle yells out at me.  
I run and get into the car, and turn round to look back at Boon.  
Boon! Come on!  
She looks at me with sad eyes, then runs off.  
She'll be fine Sliver, we have other things to do. Like getting out. The driver says.


	6. Defragment Drive:C

After about fifteen minutes of driving (all the passengers constantly looking behind us. As if something could follow), we finally stop and go up a flights of stairs to a hotel room. In this room are tables covered in computers, telephones all over, wires and cables hanging all over the place.  
And one single mirror laying on the floor in front of a chair. The face of the mirror has a few fractured parts where when you look into it, it splices your image so the way you look doesn't exactly line up.  
We don't exactly have a whole lot of time Sliver. says Fortune. The way Fortune looks, her type of beauty, all you can think about is what happened to her feathered wings.  
What do you mean. Me equals: clue less about everything at this general point.  
Those agents will find us in a few minutes and sentinels in an even less amount of time, so we need to know if you're willing to learn about what the hell is going on, or if you'd rather stay a slave.  
  
What's it going to be Sliver. Fortune takes out two little pills from her pockets: one red, one blue. This is your last chance for freedom. This is your ultimate choice. Find the truth, she raises her hand slightly, the one with the red pill laying in her palm, Or continue dreaming, she raises her other hand, the one holding the blue pill.  
I start reaching up to the blue pill.  
This is your final chance Sliver.  
I look her in the eyes for a few seconds. Reach fully to the blue pill and pick it up between my forefinger and thumb, giving it a look over. Then flicking it into the darkness, taking the red pill and swallowing it with a gulp of water.  
Fortune smiles and drops her hands into her pockets, directing me to stand on the mirror.  
Static, Psudo, hook him up. Sphinx, find his signal.  
Two of her comrades walk over to me and stick what looks like little patches onto my arms and my temples.  
I look down into the mirror, and see the patches start to turn a black color, and seep into my skin. Seeing this black liquid infest my veins started to sicken me and I began to convulse, my veins burning as the ink fills me.  
Sphinx, hurry.  
His signal is near, about ten more seconds.  
The room suddenly feels like it's growing, and I realize that the mirror is slowly becoming liquid, sinking me into its icy depths. Silver drips start flowing up me, chilling to the bone, canceling out the ink's heat.  
Found him.  
I hear the hard tap of a keyboard key as I swiftly sink into the mirror. Icy darkness is all around me and all I see is my own body, floating, naked, devoid of hair.  
In between the darkness, light flickers. My arms attempt to thrust out before me, my chest and legs bound by straps.  
Reaction tells me to try remove the straps, and I obey my reaction. Until I realize I'm not where I used to be.  
Looking out before me, my eyes capture the visual of large black monoliths in rows stretching for miles. Each pillar cutting through the black rapidly moving clouds in the sky, lightning striking the tip and coiling all along the pillar. Even so far away, I see thousands of others like me, bound to each tower. Still asleep as I had just been.  
I'm so high up, the ground fades into a black fog. Machines the size of cars move deftly across the faces of these circular towers. Each shiny machine looks like a gigantic arachnid, twelve ebony metallic arms tend to the sleepers on each pillar.  
Air rushes loudly, and a massive metal hand comes down right beside me and grasps the crimson carapace, pulling it free and raising it high in the air, dropping it on its back.  
These harvest the dead ones I assume.  
I suddenly know how an orange feels.  
Human orchards.  
An electronic hum vibrates, coming from behind me. I look to my right and see one of the spiders crawl around towards me. Coming to check on me.  
This twelve legged monster crawls rapidly to me, stopping over my head.  
My heart pounds, ready to attempt any sort of dodge I may need.  
Two tentacles wreathe from it's chest area. These appendages coil around my neck and arms, beginning to crush the life from me. Binding me with strength far surpassing mine, I feel the cables in my muscles moving, causing massive pain.  
Conscious flees from me for a short while, interrupted by loud clanking.  
A little screen drops in front of me and blinks a faint gray. I appear hairless in the reflection. After a few seconds, the screen is drawn back into the machine and is replaced by a thin cord.  
This thread of a cable moves around like an ebon snake, writhing about in life. It snakes around to my ear, I can feel it forcing it's way inside me.  
Any more of this and I'll faint again.  
It pokes around in my brain, sending electrical pulses through my entire body, keeping me in this horrible dream.  
I pass out shortly, reawakening at the feeling of the cord exiting my skull.  
The machine's grip loosens and I draw deep rapid breaths. This is soon interrupted by ten rapidly occurring pops in my back. The cords inside my muscle are torn away, leaving a feeling of severed limbs.  
My head falls forward, the pain draining all strength I have.  
Rapid gunfire from my left shatters the carapace of the machine still above me, causing it to spasm and lose its grip on the monolith, falling miles to the ground.   
A large ship pulls up beside me me, and a door opens. From inside the ship a metal platform is dropped out. This platform locks onto the monolith right beside me. Psudo walks out to me, taking out a small blade.  
We need to hurry, more machines are on their way. He slices my binding and carries me into the ship.  
He sets me onto the floor and then pulls a cable, pulling the platform inside. After he shuts the door, he shouts something about leaving fast.  
Again, darkness cocoons me.


End file.
